Illinois pensions 101: Paltry contributions yield million-dollar payouts

By Adam Schuster
01/17/2020
Across all five state retirement systems, typical career workers pay for about 5% of the cost of their pension benefits. They receive an average of $1.7 million to $3.6 million.

TAGS: Edgar Ramp, firefighter pensions, GARS: General Assembly Retirement System, government employees, government services, government unions, government workers, IEA-NEA: Illinois Education Association, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Illinois, Illinois Constitution, Jim Edgar, JRS: Judges’ Retirement System, municipal government, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, police pensions, public sector, retirement age, Rod Blagojevich, SERS: State Employee Retirement System, Social Security, social services, Springfield, SURS: State Universities Retirement System, tax hikes, tax increase, TRS: Teachers’ Retirement System

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Special report: Illinois must act now to guard against COVID-19 financial fallout

Due to its poor financial health and lagging economy, Illinois carries unique economic and fiscal risks from a prolonged market downturn or recession. The state must act now to mitigate harm from COVID-19.

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